Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News 9/11/06 - Elections DO Matter

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ELECTIONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Think about it: PRESIDENT AL GORE

Never forget the pursuit of Truth.
Only the deluded & complicit accept election results on blind faith.
Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News September 11, 2006

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.
Please

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for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

Check www.electionfraudnews.com every now and then.

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1. FL2000: Strategy 1: Disappeared Voters

The Nation: 02.05.01
Florida's 'Disappeared Voters': Disfranchised by the GOP

http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=27&row=1
by Greg Palast

In Latin America they might have called them votantes desaparecidos, "disappeared voters." On November 7 tens of thousands of eligible Florida voters were wrongly prevented from casting their ballots--some purged from the voter registries and others blocked from registering in the first instance. Nearly all were Democrats, nearly half of them African-American. The systematic program that disfranchised these legal voters, directed by the offices of Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris, was so quiet, subtle and intricate that if not for George W. Bush's 500-vote eyelash margin of victory, certified by Harris, the chance of the purge's discovery would have been vanishingly small.

The group prevented from voting has few defenders in either party: felons. It has been well reported that Florida denies its nearly half a million former convicts the right to vote. However, the media have completely missed the fact that Florida's own courts have repeatedly told the Governor he may not take away the civil rights of Florida citizens who committed crimes in other states, served their time and had their rights restored by those states.

People from other states who have arrived in Florida with a felony conviction in their past number "clearly over 50,000 and likely over 100,000," says criminal demographics expert Jeffrey Manza of Northwestern University. Manza estimates that 80 percent arrive with voting rights intact, which they do not forfeit by relocating to Florida.

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2. FL Strategy 2: The “famous” Ballot

Can you believe it, a Democratic Elections Official came up with this. What do you think she
was smoking when she did it or was it somewhat more intentional. We need to keep people in line
who represent us, especially Democrats. Teresa LaPore, thanks for all bad things imaginable.

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3. FL: Stretegy 3: “Spoiled Ballots”

Whose Votes Don't Count?: An Analysis of Spoiled Ballots in the 2000 Florida Election

Philip A. Klinkner, Associate Professor of Government

http://tinyurl.com/lhx7q

In conclusion, this analysis offers two important findings:

1. There is no evidence that higher rates of spoiled ballots resulted from such individual factors as education and literacy. Instead, the factors influencing spoiled ballots were systemic. Thus, rather than speaking of individuals who spoiled their ballots, we should speak of individuals who were placed in situations in which it was more likely that their ballots would be spoiled. Furthermore, this finding indicates that any effort to reduce the rate of spoiled ballots must focus on systemic solutions--improved technology, more and better election workers, and stronger efforts to investigate and prosecute any instances of corruption and/or racial disenfranchisement.

2. Even after controlling for other factors, rates of ballot spoilage remain higher in predominantly black areas than in other areas of Florida. As the last model indicates, with all else being equal, for every 1-point increase in the percentage of registered voters who are black, there was a .07 percentage point increase in spoiled ballots.

In addition, these rates were even higher where substantial numbers of blacks were found in counties with large margins for George W. Bush. All of this corresponds to and further reinforces the findings of the USCCR that there is evidence of racial disenfranchisement in the 2000 election in Florida. Consequently, it is important that federal authorities should investigate this matter more thoroughly.

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4. FL: Strategy 4: Voting After Election Day – A Unique Concept

Salon:
Did Bush camp encourage military personnel to vote after Election Day?

In an excerpt from his new book, Jake Tapper uncovers the down and dirty partisan scuffle to win the Florida recount battle -- and the presidency.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Jake Tapper
http://tinyurl.com/lzcc8

March 5, 2001 | In the heat of last fall's historic post-election presidential campaign, when advocates for Al Gore and George W. Bush were navigating the swampy world of Florida election law, some of the ugliest wrangling -- and some of the most legally debatable maneuvering on both sides -- centered on the counting of overseas absentee ballots.

According to a knowledgeable Republican operative, the Bush camp even discussed a strategy that, if implemented, would have broken the law: organizing a post-election get-out-the-vote drive among overseas military personnel who had registered to vote but had not cast ballots by Election Day.


Bush officials did not return calls seeking comment on the report. But according to the knowledgeable GOP source, on Saturday, Nov. 11, Bush's political team held a 60- to 90-minute conference call for campaign operatives scattered throughout Florida. In the course of the discussion, they discussed having political operatives near overseas military bases encourage soldiers who had registered to vote -- but never did -- to fill out their ballots and send them in, more than four days after the voting deadline.

Was this plan, a blatant act of voter fraud, ever carried out? There's no concrete proof that it was, as of today -- and if it was, whoever was involved isn't talking. (Neither South Carolina-based strategist Warren Tompkins, who ran Bush's absentee ballot monitoring operation, nor Bush political director Ken Mehlman returned calls for comment.) What's not in doubt is the crucial role the overseas military ballots -- and the vicious, behind-the-scenes battle over whether to count them -- played in the outcome of the Florida vote and, ultimately, the election.

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5. FL: Stretegy 5: Return to the "GO"- Republican Ties to Felon Purge Co

The Nation: 02.05.2001
Scrub Helps Shrub

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=74&row=2
by Greg Palast

The company that the Florida secretary of state contracted with in 1998 to help purge the state rolls of ineligible voters is well connected to GOP circles. The chairman of the board of Database Technologies, now the DBT Online unit of ChoicePoint Inc. of Atlanta, was former astronaut and prominent Republican Frank Borman.

Also on the board were billionaire Ken Langone, who was co-chairman of the fundraising committee for New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's aborted US Senate race; and big GOP funder Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot. Howard Safir, former New York City police commissioner under Giuliani, is a consultant to the company, and Vin Weber, best known as Newt Gingrich's legislative enforcer when the pair controlled the House of Representatives, is the company's lobbyist. The company says that it favors no party.

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6. Nation: Pelosi Demands Fair Voting, no suppression. CBS Distorts Headline

Why is the headline “Liberals” – why not Democratic House Leader or Pelosi or Democrats. Oh, I know. CBS is now run by the right person, the one who won’t hire a Dan Rather, the one who won’t support investigative reporting, etc. etc. With ABC, NBC and CBS, who needs Fox.

Liberals Accuse GOP of Conspiring to Defraud Voters
By Kate Monaghan
CNSNews.com Correspondent
September 08, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) joined other Democratic lawmakers and liberal activists at a roundtable discussion Wednesday, accusing Republicans of interfering with voters' rights, especially those of minorities.

"There was a concentrated effort by conservatives to warp the legislative process, to make it more difficult for people to vote,"said Jon Greenbaum, director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Pelosi believes the right to vote is in jeopardy and argued that "there is a force conspiring against those who seek to uphold it."

"We cannot allow the birthright of America to be stolen," Pelosi said."We expect the election to be held with integrity, but we know that there are forces that seek to undermine that goal."

[freedomfries]

12. thanks auto

for commenting on the headline job!

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17. These CM types are getting feisty. Amazing...thank you...

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7. MD: Baltimore Sun on VOTER SUPPRESSION

Baltimore Sun: 9/11/06
Time to vote

http://tinyurl.com/hzkc4

About 1 million Marylanders are expected to cast ballots in the primary election tomorrow. That may sound like a lot but it's less than one-third of the state's 3.1 million registered voters. The last significantly higher turnout was in 1994 when the state's Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primaries were closely contested and even then only about 40 percent of voters showed up.

Some claim this is because life has become hectic. Others see signs of voter disengagement, a loss of faith in the political system and perhaps even a protest movement, albeit a passive one. None of these rationalizations is satisfactory. Ultimately, a no-show is a kind of vote for the status quo - or, perhaps more accurately, for letting one-third of your neighbors make your most important decisions about government for you.

Unfortunately, too many people keep only a half-ear or less cocked to matters of public policy, and there may be some who believe that their votes will not count - or will be miscounted. Recent debates over early voting and the state's touch-screen voting machines have produced much misleading rhetoric.

Here's the reality. For good or bad, there is no early voting this year. The state's approximately 19,000 voting units are tested, locked down and ready to go. These same units have been used successfully in Montgomery and Prince George's counties since 2002 and most of the rest of the state since 2004.

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8. OH: Voter ID – Picture ID – What a mess…

Akron Beacon Journal: 9/11/06
Akron forum warns citizens of changes at ballot box Nov. 7

By Sandra M. Klepach
Beacon Journal staff writer
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15490602.htm

First know what you need to bring to the poll if you want to cast your ballot Nov. 7.

``It's not just fair. It's crucial,'' said Nancy Holland Myers, civil rights attorney and moderator of a nonpartisan Voters' Rights Forum on Sunday afternoon.

snip

Ohio House Bill 3 -- backed by gubernatorial candidate Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell -- requires that voters present a picture ID before being allowed to cast a ballot.

But waving the bill's 300-some pages before an audience of about 50 people, League of Women Voters election specialist Peg Rosenfield slammed the requirements as ``cumbersome'' and ``confusing.''

``It is possible to read it. It is not necessarily possible to understand it,'' she said. ``It's not one thing; it's the accumulation of things. If one doesn't get you, another one may.''

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9. MEXICO: Obrador Agrees to 1 day Suspension of Protests

The “winner” Calderone is going to march the army all over downtown Mexico City. This caused Obrador to suspend protests on the 16th, Calderon’s induction, since the PRD has no problem with the army. This shows how weak the Fox-Calderon party is, hiding behind a parading army. It’s all chess. Calderon wins on the 16th (but he did not win on election day). On the 15th, Obrador and the PRD will have a major demonstration against Fox, author of much of the election fraud that cost Obrador and the people the election.

AP/Intl. Herald Tribune: 9/10/06
Mexico's president-elect calls for reconciliation,
leftist agrees to temporarily lift blockades

http://tinyurl.com/qjz8w

MEXICO CITY President-elect Felipe Calderon called for reconciliation but promised to govern with "a firm hand," while his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador agreed to move protest camps to avoid clashing with the military's annual Independence Day parade.

Lopez Obrador's said his supporters on Sept. 16 would at least temporarily remove tent camps set up in the capital's main square and along a downtown boulevard, defusing one potential confrontation.

Calderon on Sunday called on his followers to display tolerance and peace, despite Lopez Obrador's pledge to prevent the president-elect from taking office.



Ed.: The Bull had someting to say to Mr.Calderone

"Mexico demands a government that governs with prudence, but at the same time, with a firm hand," Calderon said at his first mass victory celebration, held at an open-air bull ring where supporters chanted "Felipe! Felipe!"

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10. CA: In case you hadn’t heard – Appeal filed for CA 50th

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3417

BLOGGED BY Emily Levy ON 9/8/2006 10:50AM
Appeal to be Filed By Plaintiffs in Busby/Bilbray CA-50 Election Contest!
Election Nullification Rejected! As Plaintiffs Seek to Prevent National Use of the 'Constitution as a Weapon'!
Jurisdictional Issue, Previously Used to Dismiss Case, to be Challenged on Appeal!

Guest blogged by Emily Levy

The BRAD BLOG has learned that the plaintiffs in the Busby/Bilbray CA-50 election contest will be appealing the recent dismissal of the case by a San Diego judge. The appeal will be filed in California's 4th District court. Briefs are now being prepared and funds being collected for what may be a rather expensive appeal. Notice of appeal may be filed as soon as today.

Donations to the appeal can be made via Velvet Revolution.

The appeal is a rejection of Judge Yuri Hofmann’s August 29 ruling which echoed GOP claims that the U.S. House of Representatives, not the state courts or voters, have the power to determine the outcome of elections of members of Congress. In California’s 50th Congressional district in San Diego County, Republican candidate Brian Bilbray was announced to be the winner of the June 6 special election, flown to Washington and sworn in before all the votes were counted or the election certified. That, after reports were initially broken, and well circulated by The BRAD BLOG revealing that the Diebold voting machines used in the elelection were sent home with poll workers for overnight "sleepovers" in the days and weeks preceding the "bellwether" U.S. House special election.

Those sleepovers, in which election works had unsupervised access to the highly hackable, programmed, election-ready voting systems, were in contravention of both state and federal laws and led to a filing of an election contest in early July.

Says attorney Paul Lehto, who argued the plaintiffs' case in Hofmann’s court…

"Everybody would agree that every vote should be counted and yet the election was terminated with well over 10,000 votes still uncounted. Everybody would agree that you can’t end a basketball game with ten minutes left on the clock and yet that’s what the Speaker of the House did when they swore in Bilbray only seven days after the election and then claimed that what that meant was that everyone else except the House of Representatives was thereby rendered powerless to look into the election. The legal theories of the defendants attempt to turn the Constitution into a weapon to be used to terminate elections. The Constitution is supposed to protect We the People not be used against us."

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11. GUAM: Say It’s not So-Primary Fights over this stuff- trouble in paradise

KUAM: Guam
Candidates demand court throw Primary results out

http://www.kuam.com/news/18995.aspx

Calling the Decision 2006 Primary Election a "fiasco", two Democratic senatorial candidates believe the Primary Election results should be thrown out. Robert Benavente and Trini Torres allege numerous constitutional violations and argue the people's right to vote was compromised on September 2. Accompanied by their attorneys, the two candidates walked into Superior Court this afternoon with a petition for the court to render the results, still as of this point unverified, null and void.

"It's not for winning or losing," said Benavente, who finished 16th in the senatorial voting, not garnering enough votes to advance to the General Election in November. "It's the integrity of the people of Guam - how they voted, does their vote count. That's the bottom line." Attorneys Curtis Van De Veld and Tom Fisher represent Torres and Benavente, both arguing the election was conducted in violation of the constitutional rights of Guam voters, the Organic Act of Guam, and local law. Said Torres, "We cannot rob a person of his or her Democratic vote than that means it's the right of the person. Democracy is based on the will of the people and vote for the people they want to represent them or govern them."

Attorney Fisher says the petition clearly raises serious allegations that the people's voice was not heard during the Primary, telling KUAM News, "This last election was so flawed. We don't know how many voters were cast. We don't know who the votes were cast for. It's impossible to determine what it was the people of Guam wanted out of this election."

Allegations were raised that included misbehavior by precinct officials by kicking pollwatchers out of the voting sites, some votes not being counted and violations of constitutional rights. Fisher continued, "It's also been a violation of the Constitutional rights of the people of Guam on both sides. Republican electorates were not given the chance to write in a candidate where the statute clearly provides they have that right. While Democrat candidates on the other hand were required to get minimum votes but because of the fact the Guam Election Commission cancelled the primary. Well the republican candidates do not have to get the minimum votes and the Democrats do."

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13. OH- More poll pay:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1157963734205760.xml?octip&coll=2&thispage=2

...The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections expects approval this week from commissioners, who already gave their blessing, to raise pay $50 per person. The average poll worker now will be paid $172 for a 15-hour Election Day, plus four hours of training beforehand.

Now, the push is on to sign people up -- the board needs more than 6,000 workers reflecting balance in political affiliation to man polling places. College and high school students, corporate groups and government employees are all being wooed.

The county also needs Election Day technicians, computer-savvy workers who can troubleshoot electronic voting devices at each polling place.

That pays $225 and involves a full day of training. (Call 216-443-3277 to inquire about either job.)...

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14. OH- How do you do a recount without a printout?

http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1157963570205760.xml&coll=2

Some election printers left no backup data

Monday, September 11, 2006
Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter

Paper printouts in Cuyahoga County's election machines are supposed to be backup records if someone disputes vote tallies on the electronic memory cards.

But what happens in a recount if the printer malfunctions or - as happened last May - election workers load paper incorrectly, leaving machines without a paper record?

The Ohio secretary of state's office says the solution is to print out the vote tallies from the memory cards to create a new paper record.

That solution robs voters of an independent backup record - a paper printout from a memory card is guaranteed to match what's on the memory card...




Fixing the elections

http://www.cleveland.com/election/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isele/1157974256301730.xml&coll=2

Monday, September 11, 2006

A panel that investigated the myriad problems of the May primary elections in Cuyahoga County recommended hundreds of ways to fix the problems. What follows are a handful of the recommendations and the status of the improvements.

Recommendation: Form a temporary, high-quality team to clean up thousands of incomplete, duplicate and error-filled voter registration records.

Status: This will not happen before November. But the board will write a plan to make it happen.

Recommendation: Put a numbered seal over the modem access doors on voting machines to block tampering. If seals are disturbed, machines should be quarantined for an investigation...

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15. Prosecutors:Convicted Bush fundraiser sought White House invitations

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/15487522.htm

JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio - A Republican fundraiser wanted to spare his family the ordeal of a trial when he admitted to orchestrating an illegal scheme that funneled money to President Bush's re-election campaign.

What he didn't explain is why he did it.

Court papers indicate that Tom Noe, a rare-coin dealer, wanted the perks that can come along with joining an elite group of business leaders and lobbyists who raised at least $100,000 for Bush, earning them the status of "Pioneers."

Noe wanted "in part to obtain presidential invitations to the White House and the President's ranch in Texas," prosecutors said in a court filing asking that Noe be given a longer sentence than they originally sought...

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16. RESTIVE VOTERS: Anti-incumbent sentiment could mean job losses

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1157992774100320.xml&storylist=cleveland

9/11/2006, 12:32 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

(AP) — NEW CASTLE, Ky. (AP) — Dissatisfied with Congress, voters would probably hang a "Help Wanted" sign on the U.S. Capitol if given the chance.

"They're not doing their job," says Scott Newland, 39, an independent voter who backed President Bush in 2004.

The factory worker had harsh words for congressional Republicans and Democrats as he helped close his sister's New Castle deli one recent evening. "You need people that care. They don't care."

Such angry sentiments echo up and down the Ohio River Valley as it cuts through Republican-held congressional districts in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio — politically pivotal House seats in an election year in which Democrats hope to end 12 years in the minority...